Former Ole Miss Head Coach Billy Brewer Dies At 82

The past year has been extremely hard for the Ole Miss Rebels as far as on and off the field is concerned. But on Saturday, times have fell harder. Former Ole Miss head coach Billy Brewer died at Memphis at the age of 82 after battling recent illnesses including suffering a stroke. He first came to Ole Miss mostly as a quarterback under legendary head coach Johnny Vaught from 1957-60 and then went on to have a successful coaching career which led him back to Oxford.

He began coaching defensive backs for Southeastern Louisiana from 1972-73 until taking over as head coach for six seasons until 1979. Brewer then went on to coach Louisiana Tech for three season up until 1982, where they won the Southland Conference and advanced as far as the first round of the FCS playoffs. By then he returned to Ole Miss in 1983 and although did not have the huge success as his head coach, he was still well respected by his players who also had NFL careers.

In 11 seasons, he capped five of those with seven or more win seasons which also led to a 3-2 bowl record. Possibly his biggest year was 1986 finishing with an 8-3-1 record placing second in the Southeastern Conference behind LSU, and beat archrival Mississippi State, claiming the Egg Bowl trophy eight times. Although NCAA allegations may had tarnished his coaching career and cost him his job, he was still respected by all who he worked for and coached and still stayed active on campus.

After coaching, he still kept a high profile taking part in the furniture business in Tupelo and other ventures. His career record stands at 125-94-6 in nearly 20 years and has still been looked upon as a legend, well loved by all of his players and those who he helped on their way to being successful.